What's the Matter with Kids Today?

[Guest]

Earlier this evening our phone rang. Briefly.

I assumed our daughter had picked it up in her room and was chatting with a friend. But when I went back to check she wasn't on the phone.

I asked her who had called and she said she didn't know.

I asked if she had answered the phone and she said she had.

So now I'm growing angrier by the second.

"You mean to tell me", (I seethed) "the phone rang, you picked it up, but then you immediately hung it up without even saying hello????"

"Yes." she replied.

"But what if it was an important call? Why would you do something like that?" I asked.

Her reply? "I don't know."

DAMN it. I expect her to leave towels on the floor, sneak cheese crackers for breakfast, talk too much, borrow my makeup, lay on her bed with her feet on the BRATZ poster while she talks on the phone - you know, kid stuff.

But this? What the hell? I feel blind-sided, because I have no clue what will be next!

(Actually, she was stretched out on her bed playing Gameboy, and I imagine the ringing of her phone bugged her so she shut it off. That's my take on it, anyway.)

PLEASE share your outrageous kid stories here, please. I need preparation, warning, increased training. I need to stock up on supplies of patience.

 

[fish_fish]

Earlier this evening our phone rang. Briefly.

I assumed our daughter had picked it up in her room and was chatting with a friend. But when I went back to check she wasn't on the phone.

I asked her who had called and she said she didn't know.

I asked if she had answered the phone and she said she had.

So now I'm growing angrier by the second.

"You mean to tell me", (I seethed) "the phone rang, you picked it up, but then you immediately hung it up without even saying hello????"

"Yes." she replied.

"But what if it was an important call? Why would you do something like that?" I asked.

Her reply? "I don't know."

DAMN it. I expect her to leave towels on the floor, sneak cheese crackers for breakfast, talk too much, borrow my makeup, lay on her bed with her feet on the BRATZ poster while she talks on the phone - you know, kid stuff.

But this? What the hell? I feel blind-sided, because I have no clue what will be next!

(Actually, she was stretched out on her bed playing Gameboy, and I imagine the ringing of her phone bugged her so she shut it off. That's my take on it, anyway.)

PLEASE share your outrageous kid stories here, please. I need preparation, warning, increased training. I need to stock up on supplies of patience.

I don't have one at the moment but did you try *69?

Or consider that it was probably a telemarketer and she did you a favor?

 

[The Neon Wolf]

Yikes...

I'm pretty sure being 22 gives me zero introspect into the parental/child mindset. So I'll be short and sweet about what I've seen a friend do when dealing with her child.

Don't blow up at her, it's going to lead to more bad stuff then good. If there's no way to keep yourself calm just walk out of the room and take a breather.

Hope things get better, sorry I'm not much information here.

 

[rgraham666]

Pronounce the Mother's Curse on her, sarahh.

"One day you'll have kids just like you!"

 

[Guest]

I don't have one at the moment but did you try *69?

Or consider that it was probably a telemarketer and she did you a favor?

LOL!

We have caller ID and I checked. It was a local number so we figure they'll call again if it's important.

We have opted out so telemarketers can't call us. That's nice.

But what on earth prompts a 10-year-old to do something like this? Honestly!

 

[Guest]

Pronounce the Mother's Curse on her, sarahh.

"One day you'll have kids just like you!"

Oooh, Rob. What you said!

 

[Guest]

Yikes...

I'm pretty sure being 22 gives me zero introspect into the parental/child mindset. So I'll be short and sweet about what I've seen a friend do when dealing with her child.

Don't blow up at her, it's going to lead to more bad stuff then good. If there's no way to keep yourself calm just walk out of the room and take a breather.

Hope things get better, sorry I'm not much information here.

Very good advice, actually.

We were calm, confused but annoyed. She can't answer the phone for awhile (couple of days) until she realizes how selfish her actions were.

Of course, this will be a headache for mom and dad, because SHE gets most of the phone calls these days.

 

[cloudy]

But what on earth prompts a 10-year-old to do something like this? Honestly!

Because she can.

I'm serious.

My small savages have done some very stupid things over the years Well, the youngest hasn't done anything to merit inclusion in the idiotic ideas hall of fame, but the two older ones were inducted years ago. I'm sure the youngest will equal or surpass his siblings eventually.

I've asked, "What in the HELL were you thinking?!?" so many times that I should probably just make a tape that says it over and over again.

But, you know? One of the reasons I'm probably so good at knowing exactly what my kids are going to try to pull on me is because I did it first.

Serious advice: take phone privileges away from her entirely for about a week, and I bet she'll learn some manners real quick. It worked for me when I was a small savage.

 

[Liar]

(shrug) Do the same when her friends call. Might result in major domestic warfare though.

 

[The Neon Wolf]

I have to agree with Cloudy, whenever I did something not so bright the folks usually suspended something from me to show me the error of my ways.
I did learn..most of the time..

 

[BlackShanglan]

Very good advice, actually.

We were calm, confused but annoyed. She can't answer the phone for awhile (couple of days) until she realizes how selfish her actions were.

Of course, this will be a headache for mom and dad, because SHE gets most of the phone calls these days.

Good plan. And I liked Cloudy's point, too. A week of no talking to friends on the phone might help her to recognize how other people feel when their phone calls aren't treated with respect. That, and there's always "Oh, I see. You couldn't interrupt the Nintendo game to answer the phone. Let's make sure that the phone doesn't interrupt Nintendo for a while ..."

But don't listen to me ramble. I don't have children. I just deal with those belonging to others. That, and I recall with dread my own mother's favorite strategy: "Oh, I see. You didn't have enough *work* to do to keep you out of trouble." *presents massive list of chores*

*groan*

God, that works, though. Seriously.

Shanglan

 

[Wildcard Ky]

Outrageous kid story:

My 9 year old daughter came to me the other day and informed me that she should have "wood floors" in her room instead of carpet.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"Because you can wipe paint off of wood, it won't come out of carpteting." she calmly said.

I went back to her room to see what she was talking about. She was painting some decorative pumpkins for halloween, and had about 5 different colors of paint in the carpet. I got mad and started yelling at her about it. She stood up defiantly, looked me square in the eye and said "I TOLD YOU that these should be wood floors!!"

I exploded. I said "You get paint all over your carpet, and you blame me for it because you don't have wood floors?" She stood there very calmly, and simply said "Yes".

 

[Subo97]

Kids are nimrods. Gotta love 'em but an awful lot of what they do wil be unexplicable. So many of them remind me of me it's scary.

I'm an empty nester, but I do have 160 7th graders I deal with every day and at least once an hour I gnash my teeth and laugh my head off. I got an e-mail from a parent the other day. One of my lesser achieving students changed his grade on a progress report. I had written 34 F ( I realize on Lit that's not all that bad, but this is middle school ) He changed the 34 to an 84 but got caught because he forgot to turn the F into a B At least the old man can forego college tuition and buy that boat he's been always wanting.

 

[elsol]

I can make you feel a LOT better... or maybe worse.

I do the exact same thing she did, and FUCK! does it piss of the sig-other!

And you are one hundred percent right... we just want it to stop ringing.

Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[Guest]

I can make you feel a LOT better... or maybe worse.

I do the exact same thing she did, and FUCK! does it piss of the sig-other!

And you are one hundred percent right... we just want it to stop ringing.

Sincerely,
ElSol

Is your Sig Other going to take away your phone privileges?

 

[yui]

Is your Sig Other going to take away your phone privileges?

Not the phone so much.

 

[elsol]

Is your Sig Other going to take away your phone privileges?

Uh... well, see...

I'm not allowed to answer the phone in my house anymore.

I lost the duty when I answered the phone...

"YOU BETTER BE A FUCKING PARENT!!!"

But in my defense, i wasn in the middle of something rather important... do I need to specify what I could have been doing with her that would cause said reaction? We're all adults here.

Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[BlackShanglan]

But in my defense, i wasn in the middle of something rather important... do I need to specify what I could have been doing with her that would cause said reaction? We're all adults here.

Ah. *nods sagely* 1040A.

 

[elsol]

Ah. *nods sagely* 1040A.

And it was the last time too!

H&R Block from that day on.

Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[Guest]

A co-worker got home from work the same time as his wife pulled up with their daughter, fresh from Karate school.

"Daddy, Daddy, want to see what I learned in class today?" said the cute as a button five year old.

"Sure honey."

Right there, in his driveway, in front of neighbors, the little girl kicked him squarely and with all the might and weight she could muster, in the nuts.

 

[impressive]

The kids don't bug me ... it's the spouse. I absolutely hate it when he does the "May I tell her who's calling?" snoop. (And no, I've not asked ANYONE to screen my calls in that way -- so if you ever call me and get that, tell the nosey SOB (in your most sultry voice) that you're my lover.)

 

[sophia jane]

The kids don't bug me ... it's the spouse. I absolutely hate it when he does the "May I tell her who's calling?" snoop. (And no, I've not asked ANYONE to screen my calls in that way -- so if you ever call me and get that, tell the nosey SOB (in your most sultry voice) that you're my lover.)

Gladly.